Chill Out About the DHS 'Right-Wing Extremist' Memo

The threat of right-wing extremism is not an imaginary threat, dreamt up in the minds of Democratic Party mullahs seeking to silence their critics. In December, a murdered right-wing extremist, said to be infuriated by President Obama's election victory, was found to have acquired components for a "dirty bomb." Prior to that, two skinheads were arrested before acting on their plan to kill President Obama and go on a killing spree that would take the lives of 88 people, including 14 African-Americans who would be beheaded. In July 2005, the Southern Poverty Law Center reported that about 60 right-wing extremist terrorist plots had been foiled since the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. The memo is correct in warning that the current political and economic environment could result in an increase in such activity.

Critics of the memo are quick to pounce on the fact that it states that there is no specific intelligence about the plotting of terrorist attacks by right-wing extremists at the moment. Such extremists do not pose the threat that al-Qaeda, the Muslim Brotherhood, or Jamaat ul-Fuqra does, but we cannot neglect tomorrow's threats while we face today's. Pointing out that there is another group of extremists that exists, members of which have carried out attacks in the past (Timothy McVeigh is a case in point), and that this group may mobilize into action due to economic or political conditions is not an act of bias; it's an act of responsibility.

It is also important to note that right-wing extremism is on the rise in Europe, providing extremists based in America with potential allies. In 2008, there were 13,986 acts of crime by right-wing extremists in Germany, a 28% increase over 2007. Violent incidents also increased from 642 in 2007 to 735 in 2008. There is rising concern throughout Europe about the activity of right-wing radicalism, which ironically targets both Jews and Muslims.

The rise in right-wing extremism in Europe is said by some to be facilitated by rapid changes in culture and demography, largely due to massive immigration. The U.S. is likewise changing quickly, due to the huge growth in Hispanics, Muslims, and African-Americans, and the authorities are right to be on guard in case some respond with hatred and violence. The memo specifically mentions that civil rights organizations are finding an increase in crimes against Hispanics and provides examples of right-wing extremists suspected of planning violent attacks on Hispanics and immigrants crossing the border.

Yes, it's ridiculous that Napolitano and other high-level officials in the Obama administration are cleansing their vocabularies of terms like "Islamic extremist," yet willingly use the term "right-wing/left-wing extremist." However, by the same token, it is equally ridiculous to condemn the use of the latter term and not the former.